Notes of a Native Son – Part 2

...it goes without saying that injustice is a commonplace. But this did not mean that one could be complacent, for the second idea was of equal power: that one must never, in one’s own life, accept these injustices as commonplace but must fight them with all one’s strength. This fight begins, however, in the heart... Part … Continue reading Notes of a Native Son – Part 2 →

Notes of a Native Son – Part 1

Notes of a Native Son (1955) collects some previously published essays and includes some originally penned for the collection. I have read the eponymous essay ("Notes of a Native Son") with my classes for the last several years, and it's always a powerful reading experience. It's Baldwin at his most directly autobiographical - it's in … Continue reading Notes of a Native Son – Part 1 →

James Baldwin – Go Tell It on the Mountain

Go Tell It on the Mountain is easy to underestimate, especially if you place it into the too-easy critical category of "semiautobiographical first novel." The first time I read it, a few years ago, I made just that mistake. I spent the whole time tracking the "John" character for what it might tell me about James … Continue reading James Baldwin – Go Tell It on the Mountain →

James Baldwin – Earliest Collected Essays on Race, Sexuality and Bad Books

In six early book reviews, Baldwin pans what he sees as second-rate novels. I read these pieces mostly with an eye to seeing trends in Baldwin's views on the questions those novels dealt with more than as reviews per se (especially since I haven't read the novels). I'll pull out a quotation or two from each essay and … Continue reading James Baldwin – Earliest Collected Essays on Race, Sexuality and Bad Books →

James Baldwin Summer Reading Project

My woefully monochromatic high school and college education exposed me to nothing that James Baldwin had written - not even to his name. I can remember a friend in college once mentioning him and me pretending that I knew who he was. But several years ago I started reading James Baldwin with my students. I read the first … Continue reading James Baldwin Summer Reading Project →

The Novels of Virginia Woolf #10: Between the Acts

“Parsimony may be the end of this book. Also shame at my own verbosity, which comes over me when I see the 20 it is--books shuffled together in my room. Who am I ashamed of? Myself reading them. Then Joyce is dead: Joyce about a fortnight younger than I am. I remember Miss Weaver, in … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #10: Between the Acts →

The Novels of Virginia Woolf #9: The Years

The big question for me while reading The Years was about whether it’s a reversion to an earlier writing style - something more like a Victorian social novel, or if it’s a step forward in Woolf’s own evolution. The earlier novel of Woolf’s that most resembles this is Night and Day, which is definitely a … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #9: The Years →

(The Novels of Virginia Woolf #8: Flush)

Not the best-known (or the best) of Woolf's novels, it's also debatable whether it's a novel. Its cover page calls it a "biography," which is strange, especially considering Flush is a cocker spaniel. It was Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog, one Woolf must have read about in her ongoing attempt, seemingly, to read everything written in … Continue reading (The Novels of Virginia Woolf #8: Flush) →

The Novels of Virginia Woolf #7: The Waves

This book is very difficult to write about; below I’ve only just mentioned most of the characters and their myriad interactions. As a matter of subjective perception, I will say this book was the most rewarding to re-read so far. I’ve tried to put some semi-coherent thoughts down here, but there is something extremely reductive … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #7: The Waves →

The Novels of Virginia Woolf #6: Orlando

Orlando feels like a detour when taken in the context of Woolf’s other novels. Obviously the parody biography style, and the fact that Woolf began the book as a joke colored my reading of it. It’s also hard to ignore the transsexual nature of its protagonist. But the biggest thing I noticed in Orlando, something relatively … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #6: Orlando →